FAO at SDG-Forum 2025: Unlocking Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Potential for the SDGs

At SDG-Forum 2025 in Brussels, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) hosted a side event on “Scaling Impact – Incubation Strategies to Unlock the Potential of MSMEs and Advance the SDGs.” The session highlighted how agribusiness incubation can help micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) drive agrifood systems transformation.

Raschad Al-Khafaji, Director of the FAO Brussels Liaison Office, opened the event by stressing that MSMEs account for most of the world’s businesses and a large share of employment, and -most importantly- represent families and communities. He underlined that no Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) can be achieved alone and called for strong partnerships across governments, multilateral organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector.
Moderator Hajnalka Petrics from the FAO Office of SDGs presented FAO initiatives to unlock the full potential of MSMEs, to contribute to the SDGs.

The FAO SDG Agrifood Accelerator Programme, supported 11 impact-driven enterprises in Africa and Asia through tailored mentoring, business planning, networking and small grants. The Programme piloted a methodology for tracking and assessing the enterprises' social and environmental impacts, ensuring that their contributions aligned with the SDGs. This framework helped the businesses to measure their sustainability efforts and demonstrate accountability and transparency in their progress.

HASTEN (Harnessing SDG-based Agrifood System Transformation through the Empowerment of the Next-Generation of Agrifood Leadership in Africa), launched in 2024, built on this initial pilot. Operating in Lesotho, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone, HASTEN aims to strengthen the capacity of youth in sustainable agrifood systems transformations by nurturing systems-thinking and enhancing the private sector’s contribution to the achievement of the SDGs. As part of HASTEN, FAO ran national business incubation programmes in each of the three participating countries, which focused on equipping youth- and women-led enterprises with new skills and tools to scale up their operations, in alignment with the SDGs. 

“Through tailored business incubation and modest financial support, the Programme demonstrated that local innovators and small agrifood enterprises can enhance their performance and simultaneously contribute to sustainable development: with the right support, these enterprises can achieve significant impact and accelerate SDG implementation in their local contexts within a short timeframe,” stressed Petrics. 

Thakane Mahase, founder of NutriRosa (Lesotho) and participant in HASTEN, shared how the programme helped her transform a research idea—sustainable livestock feed from indigenous plants—into a growing enterprise creating jobs and improving farmer resilience. Read more about her story here. 

Two enterprise spotlights illustrated the impact of FAO MSME support:

• Gorilla Conservation Coffee (Uganda) invested in its local coffee processing and infrastructure, helping to reduce post-harvest losses and create new jobs for local youth, expand it training in climate-resilient farming techniques and environmental conservation reaching 500 farmers and introduce agroforestry practices among coffee suppliers, leading to 7000 trees being planted. 
• AMAATI (Ghana) developed a new product: nutritious fonio biscuits, which include protein-rich locust bean leaf, creating both a healthy food option and establishing new revenue streams for local women famers. The business provided training and equipment for these women to harvest locust bean fruit during the dry season, providing a new diversified income source at a time when other agricultural activities are limited - therefore helping to sustain rural livelihoods year-round for over 2000 smallholder farmers. 

Reactions and insights on how to enhance and scale such initiatives were then discussed with a panel.
Orsolya Frizon Somogyi, Deputy Head of Unit “Research and Innovation” at DG Agriculture and Rural Development, European Commission, shared the experience of  the AU-EU Partnership on Food and Nutrition Security and Sustainable Agriculture and highlighted multi-actor EU tools like Living Labs and Lighthouses to accelerate systemic change as part of user-centred, place-based and transdisciplinary research and innovation ecosystems. She also underscored the importance of scaling pilot initiatives for bigger impact. 

Annina Göbel, Investment Officer at the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries (BIO),  provided valuable insights on how private investment companies can support MSMEs, highlighting the key characteristics that make enterprises investment-ready. Annina also offered recommendations for business incubators on prioritizing support to ensure incubated enterprises are well prepared to attract and secure larger investments.

Selene Casanova, International Communications Coordinator at Rikolto - an international NGO working with smallholder famers and other value chain actors in select agrifood sectors also in Africa and Asia – reflected on her organization’s experience under Good Food for Cities. She emphasized designing incubation around real local challenges and improving city food environments to support start-ups.

In closing, Mahase called for continued support to MSMEs and young innovators so that they can thrive. The event reaffirmed that with targeted support, enabling ecosystems and partnerships, agrifood MSMEs can significantly accelerate SDG progress.

To learn more about FAO’s work on SDG acceleration, visit the FAO Sustainable Development Goals Helpdesk.